That's Fit

Sometimes it's hard being a member of the fairer sex. We're busy. Really busy. In fact, a recent study found that women work a 15-hour day, no matter how many hours they actually put in at their jobs. So it's understandable that we may make a few mistakes throughout the day -- forget to pick up milk, send a child to school without her lunch money, leave the cat out all night. It's just going to happen.

But according to Prevention, women are also making big mistakes when it comes to health. But unlike forgetting to wash your daughter's soccer uniform, making mistakes about diet, fitness, and lifestyle can cost you more than inconvenience in the long run. If you're guilty of some of the following mistakes, take a closer look at where healthy habits rank on your list of priorities and see if you can't make a difference in your own personal health.

Ah, the power of food. Even small portions of food have power, like small salads.

Small salads eaten just before a meal can keep your knees and hands free of arthritis. It's the vitamin K found in leafy greens like cabbage, spinach, and swiss chard that reduces the risk of joint damage.

Here's what science says about this salad scoop: Those with higher blood levels of vitamin K have significantly less chance of developing bone spurs and cartilage damage, common complaints of those with painful osteoarthritis. Hands seem to benefit the most, but knees get a dose of protection too.

Once word of caution before you mix up those greens: if you are on blood thinners, check with your doctor to determine how much vitamin K is appropriate for you.

At my house this summer, we are enjoying the greatest fruit salads. Our typical heaping bowls of fruit include watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, peaches, cherries, banana, grapes, and sometimes pineapple. My mouth waters at the thought of these in-season fruits. My heart sinks when I think of the day they are not so plentiful, when dare I say, they are not in season. It happens every year. And somehow we manage. We just aren't as hyped up about our off-season salads.

Fortunately, there are a lot of great in-season foods available right now. Real Simple magazine lists 11 of them. Check them out, and enjoy them while you can.

• Argula
• Basil
• Beets
• Bell Peppers
• Berries
• Chard
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Stone Fruits (plums, peaches, and nectarines)
• Summer Squash

Feeling and looking like a superstar starts with eating superstar foods and when it comes to summer salads, you might know that veggies are good for you but do you know which ones are the best? In terms of antioxidant levels there are five veggies that stand out from the rest and you'll want to be sure to throw as many of them as you can in your salads this summer. Which veggie do you think is the absolute richest in antioxidants?

If you're trying to lose weight, you'll have to fill up on salads and veggies. But salads can get boring -- fast! And when you get bored with your meals, that's when you reach for the junk food.

Which is why we need to keep our healthy foods fresh and interesting -- Fitsugar calls it 'Pimping your greens.' Here are some of my favourite ways to spice up my salads -- feel free to share some of your own in the comments.

• Try different dressings, but make sure to check the label before buying because certain dressings (like the creamy ones) can be loaded with fat and calories. Better yet -- try making your own!
  
• Add some nuts and seeds. They'll add protein and flavour to your greens.
• Think outside the veggies. Slices of fresh fruit can add a lot of flavour to your salad -- strawberries, grapes and mango are my favourites.
  
• Cheese, please. I love cheese and if adding it to my salad means I look forward to chowing down on my greens, so be it.
  
• Get inspired. I sometimes spend my lunch hours perusing the internet for interesting salad recipes -- I rarely follow a recipe by the book but it's great for ideas and inspiration.

I was so happy when someone came up with the word "flexitarian," because I was tired of labeling myself a failing vegetarian. But even as a flexitarian, it can be tricky sometimes to find a menu choice that's both healthy and meat-free.

Take, for instance, this list of vegetarian fast food options from eDiets. With the exception of salad, there just aren't a lot of choices out there. At McDonald's, you can have a milkshake -- not exactly a nutritious choice. And at Burger King, even the veggie burgers may be cooked in the same oil as the meat. And while salad is certainly a nutritious addition to my diet, sometimes I get tired of salad, or want something a little more filling.

I'd love to hear from vegetarian That's Fit readers -- where do you find healthy, vegetarian choices for on-the-go?

Now that it's fall, those of you with apple trees are probably trying to think of ways to use up the buckets and buckets of ripe fruit you've got falling all over your yard. Sure applesauce and apple pie are great, but there is only so much of each you can a) make and b) eat.

It would be a shame to waste all of your apples as the fruit offers a range of health benefits, so for a few ideas on what you can make with the bounty currently dropping off your trees, you can take a look at this piece for 10 ways to eat apples. OK, maybe only 8 as applesauce and apple pie are on the list. But the article also mentions apple cider, apple butter and apple cake (mmmm!). The fruit also is a great addition to salads and soup, and the piece offers links to a few tasty recipes for each.

What is your favorite apple recipe?

It's interesting to hear that an increase in healthy (or unhealthy, I suppose) salad consumption around the world is increasing the risk of disease and illness, but that is what U.S. scientists are saying.

The law of averages takes over here -- the more people consume a certain food type (which could have E.-coli or other bacterial problems), the more incidents of sickness will result.

On one hand, it's great to see more folks around the world eating vegetables and salads as opposed to more unhealthy food products or items. But, if the safety of those vegetables is of concern, there's going to be more possible problems. Are you going to stop eating salads. I won't.

Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Did you know that the avocado is sometimes called the Alligator Pear? Or that Brazilians add avocado to their ice cream? There are lots of fun facts about avocados, but one thing we know for sure is that they are nutritious.

The mono-unsaturated fats in avocado makes this fruit a heart-healthy and cancer-fighting choice. And, avocados can actually help you better absorb the nutrients in vegetables. Avocado salad, anyone?

Add the vitamin K, fiber, B vitamins and potassium in avocado and you've got yourself one nutritional powerhouse.

When it's hot out, big meals and cooking are just about the last thing I want to have anything to do with. Summer is a time of salads, fruit and anything cool from ice cream to iced beverages. While many of these summertime treats may sound light and healthy, there are often extra calories hidden in some of the season's food favorites. Check out this list to find out what to avoid in order not to ruin your healthy-eating plan:

• Salads - Sure most greens are great for you, especially when topped with a low-cal dressing, but beware of anything like coleslaw and potato salad that is full of high-fat, high-calorie mayonnaise.
• Hot dogs and hamburgers - To much of these much-loved summer foods can ruin a diet. You don't have to give them up though, just substitute in an alternative like turkey dogs or veggie burgers from time to time.
• Alcohol - I love a tasty daiquiri on a hot day as much as the next person but these types of icy, sugary drinks will result in a thicker waistline. As the piece points out, a chilled white wine or even beer, is much lower in calories.
• Iced Coffee - An easy culprit to fall for because few associate coffee with gaining weight? While a low-fat iced latte won't ruin your figure, too many of those large, syrupy iced-mocha's certainly will.
• Ice Cream - For some, avoiding ice cream all summer is not only impossible, it seems totally crazy. Rather than give it up completely, substitute a simple non-fat vanilla scoop for a heaping bowl of rocky road. Or try a fruit sorbet or low-fat frozen yogurt from time to time.

Have you found any of your favorite summer foods have been affecting your weight? And can you recommend a healthy substitute?

Here at That's Fit, our F-Factor stands for fitness, but there's another F-Factor that's just as important -- Fiber! Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet -- are you getting enough? You might, but if you're relying on your high-fibre cereal to provide all your fibre, you might not be consuming as much as you should. Salads, for example, have little fibre, but linguine with clam sauce has 10 grams. Cereal is a good source

That's the premise behind The F-Factor Diet by Tanya Zuckerbrot. She suggests that we get between 30 and 35 g of fiber a day -- and your cereal might only pack 5 or 6 grams. yikes! And that whole-grain bread? It has about the same -- or less. But Zuckerbrot's book has a variety of yummy and fiber-rich recipes that can help you get your daily intake, and take off a few pounds in the process too!

How do you get your fiber?

When you're trying to lose weight and you're eating out, what are you going to order? Chances are you'll opt for the salad, but surprise! That's not always the best choice.

One of the biggest offenders is the famous Caesar salad. The emperor's salad is full of fat and calories, and can punch a huge hole in your diet with up to 700 calories in an entree-sized order. Other salads might not be the best either. To avoid sabotaging your diet with a salad, hold the cheese, the croutons, the creamy dressings and pretty much anything else that makes it taste like you're not dieting.

But there is hope: Making your own dressings, with healthy ingredients, can make a world of difference to both your waistline and your tastebuds. Do you have any recipes?

Not only is the sea calming for our souls by watching the waves coming in and going out and helping us unwind and relieve stress, but it is a provider of that fun summer vacation to soak up the sun we need and the exercise we need by walking, swimming, or biking.

But we need to look to the sea a little more often for the thousands of types of sea vegetables that we can eat. Sea vegetables are classified into categories by colors of brown, red or green. Each having a distinct shape, taste and texture. The sea cucumber sounds like one of our favorite salad foods but it is not a plant or vegetable. But here are some sea vegetables that are an excellent source of iodine, vitamin K, folate, magnesium and are a good source of calcium, iron and tryptophan. These are some of the most popular types of sea vegetables.

Nori is dark purple almost black in color and turns phosphorescent green when toasted. It is famous for its role in making sushi rolls. You can also slice nori into small strips and sprinkle on top of salads. Kelp is light brown to dark green in color and most often is available in flake form. You can sprinkle on salads or add to water to make a delicious broth. Hijiki looks like small strands of black wiry pasta and has a strong flavor. Kombu is very dark in color and generally sold in strips or sheets. It is used mostly as a flavoring for soups. Wakame is similar to kombu and most commonly used to make Japanese miso soup. Arame has a lacy, wiry look and this sea vegetable is sweeter and milder in taste than many others. Dulse is soft and chewy in texture and a reddish brown color.

Want to have the freshest best tasting organic tomatoes to put on your sandwiches, salads or to make your sauces? Tomatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients as well as being a lycopene rich food. You don't have to have a big plot of land to garden and grow these delectable vegetables. All you need is a 5 gallon bucket, a stake and some string, some garden soil, and one healthy tomato plant. Planting your own is a sure fire way to know you are eating organic. When purchasing tomato plants at your local garden center, select stocky, dark green plants. One plant per bucket will produce a lot of tomatoes. Planting tomatoes should be done before the end of June so hurry and get yours planted.

You can use the bucket method to plant tomatoes year round inside. Save your egg containers and use them as seed starters. Fill each cavity with potting soil and put one seed per cavity. Then as the sprouts get 4 inches tall, transfer them to their own bucket. Set plants into the soil up to their first true leaves.

Tomatoes need 6 hours of sunlight a day so if you are starting them inside, be sure to have them near a window that gets a lot of sunlight.

I love summer salads, but I don't eat as many of them as I'd like to because it's so hard for me to keep lettuce and salad greens fresh in the refrigerator for more than 1 day at a time. But it seems FitSugar has the answer, and who knew it would be so easy? Just put your greens in a plastic bag, breathe a puff of air into it (for the carbon dioxide) and tie it at the top. Of course it will take up more space in your fridge this way and I'd make sure your family isn't sensitive about people breathing on each other's food, but if this works (I'm totally trying it) what an awesome trick!